September 19, 2026 04:22 am (IST)
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India beat Zimbabwe by six wickets in dramatic comeback
Auckland, New Zealand, Mar 14(IBNS) A sparkling ton by Suresh Raina and captain's knock of 85 by Mahendra Singh Dhoni steered India to a six wicket victory against Zimbabwe at the Eden Park on Saturday.
Producing a magnificent display of comeback from the brink of the pit, the Raina-Dhoni pair rattled up 196 runs between them in the fifth wicket partnership and reached the target of 288 with eight balls to spare.
With this victory India topped the pool B winning all the six matches. They will now play their quarter final match against Bangladesh on March 19.
Raina's gusty 110 off 104 balls comprised four over boundaries and nine boundaries. He was declared man of the match.
Earlier, India suffered early blows losing four top order batsmen when the team's score was only 92.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikar Dhawan fell cheaply to Zimbabwe pacer Tinashe Panyangara, both in the seventh over scoring 21 each. Azinkya Rahane (19) and Virat Kohli (38), who built a 50-run partnership were also out leaving the team at 98 for four wickets at the end of the 25th over.
However, both Raina and Dhoni played anchored to the crease and went on punishing the Zimbabwe bowlers taking calculated shots to keep the score board moving.
The highlight of Zimbabwe innings was the swashbuckling 138 by wicket keeper-batsman Brfendan Taylor .
Even though Zimbabwe lost three early wickets of Hamilton Masakadza (2), Chamu Chibhabha (7) and Solomon Mire (33), a 109-run partnership between Sean Williams (50) and Taylor pulled the side out of crisis and built a solid foundation.
For India pace trio Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav bagged three wickets each.
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